1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electric connection box in which connectors, used, for example, to join wire harnesses, are coupled together, and the coupled connectors are fixed within a case.
2. Related Art
One conventional electric connection box of the type described is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. JP S63-90920U, and is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, this electric connection box 100 comprises a case 101, and this case 101 comprises an under case 103, and an upper case 102 attached to an upper side of the under case 103. Connector portions (not shown) are fixedly provided at suitable positions within the upper case 102. A connector fixing portion 104, comprising four retaining arms 104a, is provided within the under case 103. Harness inlet/outlet ports 105 are formed in opposed side walls of the under case 103, respectively.
A first wire harness WH1 is divided at its end portion into two branches, and first connectors 106a and 106b are connected to ends of these branches, respectively. A second wire harness WH2 is divided at its end portion into three branches, and second connectors 107a to 107c are connected to ends of these branches, respectively.
The first and second wire harnesses WH1 and WH2 are passed respectively through the harness inlet/outlet ports 105 into the case 101, so that the first and second connectors 106a and 106b and 107a to 107c are introduced into the case 101. The first connector 106b and the second connectors 107b and 107c, introduced into the case 101, are connected respectively to the connector portions (not shown) of the upper case 102. One pair of first and second connectors 106a and 107a, introduced into the case 101, are coupled together, and the coupled first and second connectors 106a and 107a (hereinafter referred to as “coupled connectors”) are fixed to the connector fixing portion 104.
Namely, the first and second connectors 106b, 107b and 107c are fixed to the case 101 by fitting forces obtained by coupling these connectors to the respective connector portions (not shown). However, the coupled connectors 106a and 107a, joining the wire harnesses WH1 and WH2, are not fixed to the case 101 by coupling these connectors with each other, and therefore the coupled connectors 106a and 107a are fixed to the case 101 through the connector fixing portion 104. As a result, the coupled connectors 106a and 107a, joining the wire harnesses WH1 and WH2, are prevented from being moved within the case 101 by external vibrations and others.
In the above conventional electric connection box 100, however, when there are used a plurality of pairs of coupled connectors 106a and 107a for wire harness joining purposes or other purposes, connector fixing portions 104, corresponding in number to the plurality of pairs of coupled connectors, need to be provided within the under cover 103, and therefore a large space need to be secured within the under cover. And besides, when there are used the plurality of coupled connectors 106a and 107a for wire harness joining purposes or other purposes, attaching (or fixing) operations, corresponding in number to the plurality of pairs of coupled connectors, must be carried out. Furthermore, when removing the connectors, it is necessary to cancel a locked condition of each of the connector fixing portions 104, and therefore this removing operation is cumbersome.